Author
Topic: rear rotor heatshield rubbing (Read 2729 times)

I am 4 hours from home on a business trip and I am having some problems with my bike.

The rear rotor heatshield seems to be rubbing inside the caliper bracket. The raised areas are being chewed up. The tire seems to be true, nothing is loose, the noise doesn't change when the brakes are applied or released.

Tomorrow I am going to try and remove the heatshield and if that doesn't fix it, I may just remove the rotor completely and ride without rear brakes until I can get it home.

First: With the wheel aligned what is the spacing between the front of the tire and the swing arm on each side. Are they equidistant, or closer one side than the other? Mine is about an inch closer of the brake side than the belt side.

Second: Can someone post the breakdown of the rear axle, spacers, and bracket? I had my tire changed a couple of months ago and I'm wondering if everything went back in right. Maybe a spacer went in between the bracket and the swingarm that should be between the bracket and the wheel bearing (spacing the wheel toward the belt side) and giving more clearance between the rotor and the caliper bracket.

My spacing between the rotor and the bracket is (obviously) non existent...

Second: Can someone post the breakdown of the rear axle, spacers, and bracket? I had my tire changed a couple of months ago and I'm wondering if everything went back in right. Maybe a spacer went in between the bracket and the swingarm that should be between the bracket and the wheel bearing (spacing the wheel toward the belt side) and giving more clearance between the rotor and the caliper bracket.

My spacing between the rotor and the bracket is (obviously) non existent...

And there is your issue...whoever did your tire swap missed something....there should not be any rubbing period. Removing the heatshield is ignoring and incorrect situation.

Second: Can someone post the breakdown of the rear axle, spacers, and bracket? I had my tire changed a couple of months ago and I'm wondering if everything went back in right. Maybe a spacer went in between the bracket and the swingarm that should be between the bracket and the wheel bearing (spacing the wheel toward the belt side) and giving more clearance between the rotor and the caliper bracket.

My spacing between the rotor and the bracket is (obviously) non existent...

And there is your issue...whoever did your tire swap missed something....there should not be any rubbing period. Removing the heatshield is ignoring and incorrect situation.

]Absolutely!! I'm betting on the spacer misplacement. Cure the disease, not just the symptom.

Here's a microfiche of the rear wheel assembly. Numbers 27 and 28 are the bearing spacers (Yamaha calls them collars). I don't remember what's different about them, but they are different part #'s, so one may very well be thinner/thicker than the other. Unless they pulled bearings during the tire change there isn't much else to mix up.

I will take the tire off this evening. One of the guys here that I am working with has 2 floor jacks and I should be able to get it off the ground. I'm hoping to find the problems (spacer) or such. Otherwise, pulling the heatshield is a stop-gap until I can get it home. Where is have all my tools and resources.

I will take the tire off this evening. One of the guys here that I am working with has 2 floor jacks and I should be able to get it off the ground. I'm hoping to find the problems (spacer) or such. Otherwise, pulling the heatshield is a stop-gap until I can get it home. Where is have all my tools and resources.

It sucks having issues in podunkville so far from home.

GOOD LUCK!!! Hope you can at least get it to where you can ride it home.

I'm the one that pulled the wheel for the tire swap. I didn't notice if hte bearing spacers were diff sizes. Anyone had the chance to stick theirs fingers between the forward part of the wheel and the swing arm on each side?

I'm the one that pulled the wheel for the tire swap. I didn't notice if hte bearing spacers were diff sizes. Anyone had the chance to stick theirs fingers between the forward part of the wheel and the swing arm on each side?

Kudos to doing the job yourself! Be sure to let us know what it was so we can learn from your experience

I calipered the rim distance from the inside of the swingarm and it is very close to 1". This is the distance to the flatter area just below the lip on the rim and though I wasn't able to get the I.D. measurement pointers exactly where I wanted them, I feel it was close.

The axle adjuster mark is approx 5 marks from the front of the adjusting block on mine. Looks like the rim-swingarm distance will increase slightly as the wheel is adjusted rearward.

Bearing spacers are different sizes. The horizontal thickness of the vertical part of the spacer (the part you can see on the outside of the wheel) is about 102/1000s on the rotor side and about 127/1000s on the belt side. However the portion that seats into the wheel is much larger in diameter on the belt side than the rotor side, makes sense as the belt side has to handle more stress. So one cannot get then backwards. With the rotor heatshield off, the outer half inch or so of the rotor still drug inside the bracket. The wheel and rotor is too far to the right. No gap on the right side between the rotor and the bracket and 1/4 inch or so on the left. There is no wiggle or slop in the wheel so it would seem the bearings are not (that) bad. I did notice a clunk inside the wheel when I tipped it left/right. I suspect something inside the wheel has broken and whatever keeps the bearings at their proper oriatation is not working. This allowed the right bearing to press inward or for both bearings to shift leftward, the right spacer to move in as well, the wheel to ride to the right on the axle, and the factory space between the rotor and bracket to disappear. I have made third spacer (about 3/16 inch thick) to go between the bearing spacer and the bracket to allow clearance. I then tightened the axle nut until the rolling resistance went up. I backed the nut off a bit. I installed the nut with loctite and the overall torque is probably 60ish inch-lbs. I scribed an alignment mark so that I can check it periodically to see if it is backing off. I didn't want to torque to spec as with the extra spacer it would put more inward pressure on the bearings. The axle is shouldered and factory torque should not push the bearings inward too hard I would think. Felt good on the ride home from a coworkers house. Guy was an ASE mech and an old Harley rider. Loves my Raider and asked me if Star is still making them. May have a new Raider Rider when is shoulder heals... Hopefully this all should get me home where I can really tear it all down to investigate the inside of the wheel. I will definitely post those results here as well. I have photos from my phone. I will add those when I get home. Thanx for the posts of the fiche and other suggestions.

RoadStarRaider.com is an independent Yamaha enthusiast website. Content on RoadStarRaider.com is generated by its users and RoadStarRaider.com is not in any way affiliated with Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A.